Hansard

Of course, an independent Scotland would incur huge costs and, like many of his fellow party members, Kevin Stewart is incapable of recognising the severe economic damage that independence would do to people in Scotland.

There are not just glaring problems in our NHS, our schools and our justice system. On housing, in the previous parliamentary session, the SNP failed to meet its 50,000 affordable homes target on time. In the Highlands and Islands, available and affordable housing is at such critical shortage that local authorities such as Argyll and Bute declared a housing emergency last year. I am sure that the cabinet secretary will have seen that The Herald newspaper is dedicating this week to publishing its editions from my region in order to highlight the acute issues of depopulation in the Highlands and the devastating consequences that that can bring. What were this Government’s solutions to that housing emergency? A botched islands bond, which it scrapped shortly after consultation; a rural housing fund, of which only half has been allocated; and a rural affordable homes for key workers fund that, almost nine months after it was established, has secured zero properties.

On transport, there has been a failure to dual the A9, despite the SNP promising to do so in multiple election manifestos, and there is the national disgrace that is this Government’s ferry replacement policy, with two vessels sitting in a dockyard on the Clyde that are four times over budget and more than six years late.

On infrastructure, there was a failure to roll out superfast broadband to every home and business in Scotland, despite a cast-iron pledge to do so by 2021.

I am beginning to understand why the SNP Government brings forward debates such as today’s rather than trying to defend its appalling domestic record. It has nothing to say about the issues that people expect it to deal with. It is becoming increasingly clear that people across Scotland are growing weary of the excuses and distractions.

When the SNP-Green Government works with rather than against the UK Government, much can be achieved. Instead of using the debate to complain about a democratic UK-wide referendum result that has long since been settled, we should be debating how we can find new and better ways of working with our partners in the EU. It is nearly a year since the Prime Minister agreed with the European Commission President the landmark Windsor framework, which provided a new legal and constitutional framework for the UK’s relationship with the EU. The past year has shown that the Windsor framework and its associated negotiations have instilled a much more positive relationship with our close friends and allies in the EU. I hope that that will continue to prosper and grow. Let us hope that the news overnight from Northern Ireland is a new and positive chapter in that story.

The cabinet secretary will be aware that the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee recently began an inquiry into the trade and co-operation agreement, ahead of its review in 2026. As he has recognised in the past, Scottish Government officials and UK Government officials work well and constructively on a number of issues.

Rather than breaking away from the world’s most successful union and becoming a smaller state with less influence in the EU, Scotland is much better served as part of our United Kingdom. I will point out one of the many aspects of that. With Scotland as part of the UK, 500,000 Scottish jobs—about one in every four—are supported by the fact that 60 per cent of our trade exports go to the rest of the UK, which is approximately £48 billion-worth. As part of the UK, Scotland has access to 200 UK-wide public institutions. As part of the UK, Scotland can use the pound—one of the world’s strongest currencies—which ensures that pensions are protected. We are the world’s sixth-largest economy.

As part of the UK, Scotland remains at its most influential. We are a member of the UN Security Council, the G7 and the G20—and I could go on. That is why people continue to support Scotland’s place in the UK. We, the Conservatives, not only respect that but will continue to fight to protect it.

The SNP may want to keep fighting battles that have long since ended, but the Scottish people are tiring of the Government’s lethargy and incompetence. They want a Parliament that is focused on solving the challenges of our time, not on issues that were settled in referendums eight or 10 years ago. What a crying shame it is that the SNP continues to bring forward such debates, rather than focusing on the issues that really matter to people.

I move amendment S6M-12004.2, to leave out from “notes” to end and insert:

“regrets that the Scottish Government continues to disrespect the outcome of the two referendums held in 2014 and 2016, and calls on the Scottish Government to focus on the real priorities of the people of Scotland rather than obsessing over the constitution.”